Upper School Curriculum

Grade: 12
Fall, Spring

PREREQ: Biology, Physics, Chemistry

How does a shark bite heal? What does it mean to receive a diagnosis? How do we decide who gets an organ for transplant? In this course, students will become confident reading about, discussing, and questioning medical topics. The course also presents students with a more nuanced, global, and realistic view of the field than they get from TV shows and other media. Medicine and Malady provides a window into the science and humanity of medicine through weekly modules focusing on major areas of pathology such as trauma, neoplasm, and infection. Each week, two students will lead seminar discussions on complex readings focusing on the humanistic aspects of medicine; this is an important opportunity for them to develop the skills of crafting meaty discussion questions and guiding their peers in a college seminar format. The rest of the class will come prepared to analyze each article and make novel connections to the material cooperatively with their peers. Each week also includes lectures on diagnosis and treatment of a new area of pathology, and a hands-on activity highlighting an element of physical diagnosis or other medical practice. The major assessments have been created with a mind toward independent thought and risk-taking — they are take-home and open-source, encouraging students to make new connections and be creative. The midterm and final exams focus on honing valuable seminar skills, in addition to content-based quizzes. The final assessment also gives students the chance to apply their new scaffolding of medical knowledge to unfamiliar diseases and conditions.